Mahama’s free tertiary education policy shot down

Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Prof. Dominic Fobih has said Ghana’s educational system will be destroyed if President John Mahama should go ahead and make tertiary education free.

According to him, not even developed countries such as UK, USA and Canada run a free tertiary education system as it is not practicable, adding that President Mahama should learn from the difficulties he’s had with even providing facilities for his promised free Senior High School education policy.

President John Dramani Mahama while addressing students of the University of Cape Coast as part of his five-day tour of the Central Region on Wednesday hinted of plans by his government to make tertiary education free, should the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP improve.

““I wish to assure you that, as Ghana’s GDP continues to grow and as you continue to make wealth, we will continue to make tertiary education progressively free so that you pay less fees. In the meantime; we are investing heavily in tertiary education in order to make the teaching and learning experience good for you.”

He said his administration has committed to investing heavily in tertiary education to ensure an improvement of the quality of graduates that are churned out of the schools.

The promise by the president follows the controversy that has attended his administration’s implementation of the ‘free secondary school education’ policy.

While government has parted itself on the back for the move, the opposition however claim there remains an element of cost in secondary school education.

Speaking to an Accra based radio station, Hon. Prof. Fobih who is also the MP for Assin South, stated that President Mahama by his pronouncement has shown that he doesn’t understand what the cost sharing policy introduced in the universities during the 90s is all about, adding that there were good reasons for asking parents to support government in paying for the education of their children.

He said President should resource the Students Loan Trust with adequate funds instead of ‘wasting’ it on a policy which will not feasible.

‘If he has money he should support the Student Loan, because the money given the students is woefully inadequate, what will GHC 500 do for a tertiary student, when we all know how expensive tertiary education is. It can even pay for user fee and parents are having things tough. There’s no money for GETFund, support to education from the fund is not the best, you haven’t been able to do anything about that and yet you want to introduce free tertiary education.”